This invention relates generally to the provision of a combination brewer, for use for brewing of coffee, tea, or the like, and applied in association with a liquid cooling means, and more specifically an integral section of the combination dispenser that can chill or make cold water for use for dispensing for other purposes.
There are a large number of beverage brewers, particularly of the coffee type, that have long been available upon the market. In fact, select of the applicants herein have a number of patents that provide means for brewing of beverages, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,888. Examples of some of the earlier coffee making machines are shown in other United States patents, such as that to Bunn, U.S. Pat. No. RE. 25,663. Other earlier patents include those to the same inventor, primarily for use for coffee brewing, as can be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,417, No. 3,100,434, No. 3,793,935, No. 3,610,132, No. 3,593,650, No. 3,608,471, No. 3,450,024, No. 3,691,932, No. 3,385,201, No. 3,336,856, No. 3,220,334, No. 3,149,556, No. 2,551,219, No. 2,561,134, No. 3,425,337, No. 3,425,338, No. 3,369,477, and No. 3,959,502. Other earlier patents to the same or other inventors upon related developments, that are for use for brewing beverages, can be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,432, No. 3,793,934, No. 3,736,155, No. 3,691,933, No. 3,608,471, No. 3,593,650, No. 3,385,201, No. 3,336,856, No. 3,220,334, No. 3,425,337, No. 3,369,477, and No. 3,425,338. Most of the foregoing patents show early types of embodiments for coffee brewing devices wherein hot water overflows, or cold water is poured into the brewer for heating, and then either through overflowing, or siphoning off for spraying onto a filter containing a quantity of grounds or crystals for making primarily a coffee, for immediate dispensing into a beaker decanter or other service vessel.
Various types of design patents upon this form of technology include the U.S. Pat. No. Des. 274,029, No. Des. 229,897, No. Des. 239,756, No. Des. 239,757, No. Des. 241,219, No. Des. 269,325, and No. Des. 280,377.
Other more recent United States patents showing beverage making machines, and which incorporate structure for use for brewing a beverage such as coffee, can be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,139, which describes a separate cold water basin that delivers its water to a water tank wherein the water is heated to a hot consistency. Other such United States patents are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,955, No. 3,319,561, No. 4,054,085, No. 4,621,571, and No. 4,603,620.
Additional patents disclosing brewing means contained within a housing include U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,276, No. 4,413,552, No. 4,464,981, No. 4,476,775, No. 4,478,139, No. 4,503,757, No. 3,736,155, No. 3,691,933, No. 3,793,935, and No. 4,531,046. While some of the shown embodiments utilize cold water in their functioning, it is the pouring in or delivery of the cold water to their systems, and more specifically into their hot water tanks, wherein the cold water is heated for delivery to a brewing basket, is the extent of usage of any available cold water accommodated by their structures.
It is to be noted, though, that in applicants' earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,888, that either tap water or heated water may be dispensed, auxiliary, from an independent faucet that mounts upon the housing of the embodiment shown in said patent. On the other hand, the cooling or chilling of that particular water is just not disclosed or considered in the description of the embodiment shown in this earlier patent.
This invention relates principally to a combination type of brewer, wherein, initially, a beverage may be brewed within the structure of its housing, generally a beverage in the category of coffee, tea, or the like, while simultaneously, an independent supply of water or other liquid may be chilled, by refrigeration means, and selectively dispensed by means of a cold water tap, or the like.
The essence of this invention is to provide a combination coffee brewer, and water cooler, in which the basic housing includes a filter monitoring center, which communicates information relating to the filtering of any fluids entering into the housing, as well as the volume of liquid used, so as to alert the operator to the preprogrammed amount of volume the filter is rated for and its need to be changed within certain specified times, or after complete capacity of usage.
The beverage brewer and liquid cooler of this device incorporates a component formed housing, with the housing being segregated into a pair of sections, divided by a center wall, ar least one of the sections provided for functioning as the beverage brewing side, such as a coffee brewer, and which performs in the general manner of operation as previously described in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,888, for brewing a beverage such as coffee from related components. The other section of this particular formed housing provides the cooling side of the equipment, and it has been designed utilizing thermoelectric cooling means to produce the cold water for direct dispensing for consumption and drinking. Thus, the combination of both heating and cooling within the same appliance as identified herein, and disclosed in this particular embodiment, all of which is attained from simultaneous functioning in the same cabinetry, from the direct supply of a low capacity electrical charge.
Generally, the cooling system of this particular housing incorporates or is embodied within the usual cabinet, comprising outer metal sides, forming the housing, and is generally filled with an insulating foam that surrounds the stainless steel tank where the vacuum breaker, the water inlet, a cooling module, and cooling rod are located. The cooling rod, as installed within the separate cold water tank is preferably constructed of a high density aluminum, Teflon coated, and is of a capacity that will supply an abundance of quickly chilled water for dispensing, as required.
The beverage brewing segment of this dispenser also includes a hot water tank, for receiving water for heating, and further includes various heating element(s) for quickly heating any water supplied therein, in preparation for its delivery and for use for drip brewing of a beverage, such as coffee.
In its usage, once the brewer is connected into the water line, and turned on, the water will fill up the cooling tank assembly to the level of a water level probe. The thermoelectric process begins once the machine is plugged in electrically. The thermal cooling process module is kept on at all times, but is controlled by a system of probes located in the tank to turn it from the low power to high power so as to accelerate the cooling rates, as well as control the ice bank that is built up within the device. Once the water reaches the signal probe, and the ice probe, the thermoelectric cooling process is turned to full power, and the thermal cooling module will start to function as a heat pump.
The basic principle of operation of this device is that the electric current put through the cooling module starts a heat pumping effect on one side of the module, in this case on its top side, and transfers that heat up to the heat sink. A fan may be constructed into the top of the unit to blow air down on top of the heat sink to dissipate the developed heat. As the cooling module pumps heat, obviously, the withdrawal of heat produces a cold environment, and thus, the rod of the cooling means becomes extremely cold, and the water is cooled by that rod. Over a period of twelve to fourteen hours, the rod will chill down enough to start to freeze the water on the rod, and thus builds up an ice bank. That ice bank is what is desired, and sought for build up because of its latent energy storage capabilities, and thus the ice bank quickly cools the water in the tank similar to the ice in any glass of beverage. As the ice bank builds up, and eventually covers the ice probe, the ice probe no longer receives a signal from the signal probe, and because ice is not a conductor of electricity, and once that signal is lost, the electronics of this device reduces the power to the cooling module to prevent a total freeze-up.
The cooling module of this assembly, consists of a heat sink, a cooling rod, the lid and all of its probes, with a wattage draw from its fan, for the cooling system, being approximately 75 watts at 125 volts.
As previously alluded to, the tank heating system for hot water, and for brewing a beverage, such as coffee, is similar to other units that incorporate the capillary bulb and heating element assemblies. The device compensates for hot water draw out of the tank reservoir, and allows the user to be able to draw water from the main reservoir during the brew cycle without proportionally reducing the amount of hot water remaining in the decanter in proportion to the hot water drawn out for other purposes.
The principle of the control board used in conjunction with this development is unique in that when a brew cycle is initiated, if water is not making contact with the level probe located in the lid of the hot water tank, the preset time set for brew delay will not begin to count until the water achieves that level of the identified probes. Ar that point, the timer will count to its preset set point. The probe does not control any solenoid valves. It simply controls the counting that takes place in the timer. This solves a significant problem with state of the art equipment that does not have such technology, which if left unused, but on, over a period of time, results in the evaporation of water volume out of the tank. When such evaporation occurs, the first preset volume brew will short the amount of evaporation which usually occurs. By designing the tank system in this manner, the level probe always balances the tank out for a proper starting point, which eliminates the fluctuation of beverage delivered to a decanter, which otherwise occurs as a result of evaporation.
Another unique feature of this current system is that the microswitch which is interfaced with the faucet handle provides further control. During a brew cycle, if one operates the faucet for hot water dispensing, he also activates the microswitch simultaneously. The microswitch stalls the timer ar whatever point it has achieved in its counting, and as long as the faucet is depressed, the timer will continue to operate, but not count. When the user stops dispensing hot water from the faucet, the microswitch will open, and the brew timer will start to continue its preset count, up to its present time frame. What this achieves is that it always delivers hot water to the brewing means in the identical quantity over a fixed period of time, so as to eliminate any fluctuation in the volume of hot water provided, as a result of faucet dispensing.
The device also includes other adjustment features, such as a signalling system that is built into the circuit board, and which provides a warning, such as the indication of a yellow light upon the front plate of the brewer, which initially provides a blinking light when a brew cycle is initiated, in order to alert the operator that a brewing cycle is in process, and one should not remove the decanter or brew basket prematurely from the apparatus. There is provided upon the control board of this device a separate adjustment to callibrate the length of time that the flashing light sustains, to complete a brewing cycle. This is important primarily because the brew cycle, from a filling standpoint and while siphoning, is different from the time it takes for the hot water and the coffee in the brew basket to complete its dripping process, so a separate adjustment such as this is necessary.
The heating and cooling systems, that cooperate with their respective heating and cooling tanks, are generally installed in the rear of the equipment, and divided by a center wall to deflect the heat away from the cooling side, and to simplify the construction and servicing of the apparatus. All the electronics for the filter monitoring system, as well as the power systems for the cooling assembly, are maintained in a component package which is easily removed from the assembly, and generally are maintained at the upper front segement of the housing, forwardly of the cold water tank assembly, so as to be separated from any generated heat.
The filter monitoring systems of this apparatus were developed and designed to allow the user to easily handle, and understand when filtering change may be needed, after sustained operation of this equipment. The electronics are designed around the filter system that is installed upon this equipment. The two criteria of the filter design were to be able to program the volumn capacity of a particular filter, under the controlled flow rate parameters, and to alert the user when the filter has reached its maximum usable capacity. In addition to volume, the system monitors the duration of time the filter has been in operation. As an example, if a filter manufacturer recommends a capacity raring of a thousand gallons or twelve months usage, the electronic system of this apparatus keeps track of both of these parameters, and which ever occurs first, the change filter light of this device lights up. The system has its own battery backup support, in the event of power loss, to maintain the memory for these callibrations, for up to two weeks duration. While utilizing the filter monitoring information light system, one can readily detect when the filtering process is occuring, and that the quality of water delivered will be of good quality, and when the filter needs to be changed the user will be quickly alerted to this requirement.
Another feature of this invention is that one model is equipped with a light emitting diode LED readout display which is designed to communicate the amount of gallons used for water and coffee consumption, and to turn on a "service filter" light ar the preprogrammed determination as to when a filter maximum capacity has been reached. In addition to the gallons displayed, the unit incorporates a declining bar graph to show the percent of filter life remaining, which is correlated to the amount of gallons used by the apparatus. When the bar graph declines from a one hundred percent to a twenty percent level, a green LED lights up, and at the ten percent life remaining level, the bar graph will turn the color orange, and ar the filter change level, the bar graph disappears, and the "filter change" light initiates.
In addition to the foregoing, in one further embodiment of this invention, the water cooling means alone has been developed as a countertop model. The stand-alone cooler uses the same cooling system and display monitors, as previously described. In addition, this modification is equipped with an auxiliary monitoring system so that an independent piece of coffee brewing equipment could be hooked up to the machine by way of its water line, and function as a combination unit, similar to that of this described invention. The filter monitoring system is designed to have the flow rate of the auxiliary piece of equipment programmed into its electronics, and whenever the auxiliary piece of brewing equipment is operated, the filter monitoring system will keep track of the volume of water consumed by that auxiliary piece of equipment, in addition to the water volume consumed by the stand-alone cooling means, to provide an indication of the total amount of water passing through the filtering means.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a combination beverage brewer with cold water supply, embodied in the same piece of equipment, for use for brewing of a beverage, such as coffee, while simultaneously providing a supply of chilled water as needed.
A further object of this invention is to provide various control means used in association with a combination brewer to provide a ready indication of the amount of water used and consumed, and which has passed through its filtration system.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a filtration monitoring device used in conjunction with the filter of a brewer to provide an indication as to the remaining useful life of the incoming supply water filter, and to let the operator know when the filter needs to be replaced
Still another object of this invention is to provide an indication as to the remaining useful life of the filter used in conjunction with the combination brewer and cold water supply apparatus of this invention.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide electronic means for controlling the operations of the brewer, so that should hot or other water be dispensed from the brewer, the brewing sequence will be temporarily delayed, so that a complete brewing cycle to the precise time period preset into the apparatus will always occur during the performance of a brewing operation.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a cold water supply means embodied within a piece of equipment and which may be utilized either on the countertop, or for restaurant, commercial, or industrial applications. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a cold water chilling apparatus which may combined with a piece of brewing equipment to attain the supply of a brewed beverage, in addition to cold water.
Still another object of this invention is to utilize thermoelectric cooling means, in the category of a heat pump, to provide chilling of water from a beverage dispenser.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide convenient insulation means used in association with the water cooling apparatus of this invention in order to sustain the cold water developed through the operations of the refrigeration equipment used in conjunction with this combination brewer.
These and other objects may become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing this summary of the invention, and upon undertaking a study of the description of the preferred embodiment, in view of the drawings.